[PDF][PDF] Astrocytic insulin signaling couples brain glucose uptake with nutrient availability

C García-Cáceres, C Quarta, L Varela, Y Gao, T Gruber… - Cell, 2016 - cell.com
C García-Cáceres, C Quarta, L Varela, Y Gao, T Gruber, B Legutko, M Jastroch
Cell, 2016cell.com
We report that astrocytic insulin signaling co-regulates hypothalamic glucose sensing and
systemic glucose metabolism. Postnatal ablation of insulin receptors (IRs) in glial fibrillary
acidic protein (GFAP)-expressing cells affects hypothalamic astrocyte morphology,
mitochondrial function, and circuit connectivity. Accordingly, astrocytic IR ablation reduces
glucose-induced activation of hypothalamic pro-opio-melanocortin (POMC) neurons and
impairs physiological responses to changes in glucose availability. Hypothalamus-specific …
Summary
We report that astrocytic insulin signaling co-regulates hypothalamic glucose sensing and systemic glucose metabolism. Postnatal ablation of insulin receptors (IRs) in glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-expressing cells affects hypothalamic astrocyte morphology, mitochondrial function, and circuit connectivity. Accordingly, astrocytic IR ablation reduces glucose-induced activation of hypothalamic pro-opio-melanocortin (POMC) neurons and impairs physiological responses to changes in glucose availability. Hypothalamus-specific knockout of astrocytic IRs, as well as postnatal ablation by targeting glutamate aspartate transporter (GLAST)-expressing cells, replicates such alterations. A normal response to altering directly CNS glucose levels in mice lacking astrocytic IRs indicates a role in glucose transport across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This was confirmed in vivo in GFAP-IR KO mice by using positron emission tomography and glucose monitoring in cerebral spinal fluid. We conclude that insulin signaling in hypothalamic astrocytes co-controls CNS glucose sensing and systemic glucose metabolism via regulation of glucose uptake across the BBB.
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